No origin matches that.
The only US state that grows coffee commercially, and the origin with the strictest labelling law in this atlas.
Hawaii grows coffee on several islands, but the name that matters is Kona: a narrow strip on the western slopes of Hualālai and Mauna Loa on the Big Island, perhaps thirty kilometres long and a couple wide. The microclimate there is close to ideal — morning sun, reliable afternoon cloud cover acting as natural shade, young volcanic soil — and the farms are small, typically a few hectares.
What sets Hawaii apart commercially is that it is a US-cost origin. Growers pay US wages and comply with US regulation, so Hawaiian coffee cannot compete on price and does not try to. It also has the strongest origin-labelling regime in this atlas: state law governs what may be called Kona, and a long-running fight over "Kona blends" — packages containing as little as ten percent real Kona — led to litigation and tightened rules. Ka'ū, on the southern flank of Mauna Loa, has emerged in the last two decades as a serious rival on quality.
Dots mark growing areas, not individual farms.
The western slopes of Hualālai and Mauna Loa — the protected name.
The point on the map marks the area, not a particular farm.
The southern flank of Mauna Loa, and Kona's most credible rival.
The point on the map marks the area, not a particular farm.
Kāʻanapali and the Haleakalā slopes — a newer growing area on former cane land.
The point on the map marks the area, not a particular farm.
Smooth and mild, with medium body, gentle brown-sugar and milk-chocolate sweetness and a soft, low-toned acidity — often with a nutty or buttery finish. Like Jamaica Blue Mountain, it is prized for balance and absence of harshness rather than for intensity, and readers who prefer bright African coffee tend to find it understated.
Coffee reached Hawaii in 1813 and was established on the Kona coast by the 1820s and 1830s. When large-scale plantation attempts failed in the nineteenth century the land was leased in small parcels to farming families, many of them Japanese immigrants — which is why Kona is a landscape of smallholdings rather than estates. Sugar and pineapple dominated the islands' agriculture until their decline in the late twentieth century, after which coffee expanded onto other islands.
Every vote tells us which pages to work on next.
Country outlines and shaded relief from Natural Earth, which places them in the public domain.
Growing-region markers indicate an area. They are not surveyed farm locations and should not be read as any.